WNBA Preview | Finals Game 2, October 19, 2026
Golden State leads the series 1-0 after a gritty 68-64 Game 1 win, closing it out on a 17-6 run. A first-time champion is still guaranteed, and Atlanta needs a response tonight to avoid going down 0-2 in San Francisco. Atlanta at Golden State tips at 8:00 PM ET on USA Network, CNBC, and Peacock.
Atlanta Needs Angel Reese to Find the Scoring Column
Atlanta Dream @ Golden State Valkyries | Game 2 | 8:00 PM ET | USA Network / CNBC / Peacock
KEY STAT
0
Angel Reese's points in the second half of Game 1, after she scored 11 in the opening quarter alone. She finished with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double overall.
Gabby Williams led all scorers with 26 points, including 16 in the second quarter, and Golden State's defense delivered 10 blocks (5 from Kiah Stokes) and 7 steals to close out Game 1. The Valkyries' bench outscored Atlanta's reserves as well, a continuation of the depth edge that's defined their whole postseason run.
Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 19 points in her return from injury but didn't score at all in the fourth quarter, and Reese's second-half disappearance is the more glaring concern given her two-way impact all postseason — she finished with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, but all 14 points came in the first quarter. Atlanta trailed by as little as four points late and had chances, but Golden State's closing defense was the difference.
Our number has Golden State winning a close one again, 70-68, barely half a point off DraftKings' Valkyries -2.5 — too tight to call anything but a toss-up on the spread. The total gap is the bigger story: our number of 138 sits well under DraftKings' 151.5, and Game 1 itself finished at just 132 combined points between the league's two best defenses. Lean Golden State -2.5 (Toss-up), and lean the under (Strong).
Atlanta wins if Reese carries her first-quarter form through all four periods this time and Gray stays involved in the fourth quarter as well.
Golden State wins if the defense and bench depth that decided Game 1 show up again and the Valkyries take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
LEAN
GSV -2.5
O/U 151.5
Under ↓
CONFIDENCE: Spread — Toss-up · Total — Strong
Our number is close to even on the spread; Game 1's defensive battle sets a low bar for tonight's total.
What to Watch For Tonight.
Reese's second-half disappearance is the headline storyline — a scoring drought from one of the league's best two-way players after an 11-point first quarter is the kind of outlier that tends to regress, and Atlanta needs it to. Our series call remains Golden State in 6, and a win tonight would put the Valkyries firmly on pace for it. The 2026 WNBA Finals continue tonight in San Francisco, with Game 3 shifting to Atlanta on Wednesday.